001I see you recording. Okay, great. Okay, welcome. This is a virtual special called meeting for March 27, 2020, and it's now starting at 12.04. Okay, board members, I'm going to do the roll call. If you could just indicate if you are present. Cindy Anderson? Present. Okay, I'm going, I know Veronica Nolan is trying to log in, so I will skip over her. Rami, Megan Alterton, sorry. Present. Ms. Gentry. Present. Ms. Green is not yet logged in. I know she will be here eventually. Ms. Lorber. Present. Dr. Reif. Present. Mr. Suarez. Yes, here. Sorry, Susan. Some people are on a different link somehow. So there are 14 people on another link. Okay. How is that possible? Are those the viewing people? No, they're not the viewing people. Veronica is one of them, I think. Okay. Veronica
002is one there as well. Okay, hold on. I'm trying to do two things at once, so hold on. And then Heather Thornton. Okay, just one second. You can go on and I will just respond to some of these messages I'm getting. Okay. All right. So, all right. Let's move. If we could get a motion to adopt the agenda for the March 27th special called meeting. I move we adopt the agenda. I second. Okay, I have Ms. Gentry seconding Mr. Suarez's motion, and we'll do the vote by roll call. I'm going to call out the names. For me, it's yes. Chair Nolan is not on right now. Ms. Alderton? Yes. Ms. Gentry? Yes. Ms. Green? I think she's not joined us yet either. Ms. Lorber? Yes. Dr. Efe? Yes. Mr. Suarez? Yes. Ms. Thornton? Yes. Okay,
003so now we've done that. It's time for Dr. Hutchings to give his report. Okay, I do want to start by giving this report. I think, are we going to try to get that link for the other? Yeah, I think Susan's... I was just texting Veronica that she needs to join through the live link and I can move her over. So once she does that, I can... The reason why I'm asking, I think we may want to pause for a moment because some of our staff who need to provide some of these updates are on that other link. So I want to make sure. I sent an email to everyone letting them know they could log in through the live link and then we can move them over. Susan? Let's just pause for a moment. I
004went in through the live link, but I got on here, even so. Oh, okay. So I don't know. Maybe it's because I have Zoom on my computer. I don't know. Susan, it's Terry. I went through the live link too and ended up right here. Oh, okay. So maybe it automatically moves you over. Susan, I just went on by Chanel's instruction to go to the Watch This Meeting link, but we all had something different on our calendar invitation. Right. Oh, okay. So maybe I can send a Watch This Live link to everyone and they can join that way. Maybe that will be easier for the future. Susan, I'm good. I followed your original email and I'm on, Terri. Okay, yeah, I see you there. Thank you. So... Yeah, I see the team. They're back on now.
005Yeah. They don't see Veronica, though. Susan, please text Veronica and let her know to access it from the ACPS website. I did. Yeah. I see Veronica at the bottom. as participants. Oh, that's Veronica Taya. No, I'm sorry. We're also still missing Jacinta, right? Yes. Susan, a couple people are in the attendees, if you can pull over. Oh, okay. I see them. Thank you. Jacinta just texted back. She's on the other link. Susan, I think you have your mute. Yeah, I'm not sure what link she's on because she says she's waiting for they're supposed to send me something. She said, Susan, we all logged in using the link that's on the calendar invite. And that's where Jacinta and Veronica were as well. There were a number of us. So we went to the calendar invite and
006just clicked on that. Yeah, I'm forwarding the email to Jacinta and Veronica that I clicked on. Do we want to? Yeah, they just acknowledged receipt of my email with the correct link. So hopefully they come in in a second. Yeah, I'm not seeing them still. Yes. Yeah, that was a second ago. So. Okay. I think since we have, we have all the staff, right? Dr. Hutchings that we need. We do. I think maybe we're going to have to go ahead because we're, and they'll just have to review this part of the meeting. I think at the beginning. So thank you, Madam Chair. So first off, let me just say we have made it through week two. So this is day nine. And it has been, you know, a nice time over the past two weeks.
007Very interesting for all of us, as you all can see, with just some of the technical even difficulties that we're having right now and learning how to be flexible. Right. And that's something that we are trying to instill in our staff and our students, as well as our families that. during this very unprecedented time in our history that we are going to have to remain flexible because things are coming at us, you know, very quickly and we want to try to respond, but we also don't want to... We also don't want to be too impulsive where we are reacting and then we have to the next day change the decision or change our reaction or response. So we are trying to be very mindful of that. But I hope that you all are enjoying the
008daily updates that we are sending out to you all each day. And if you get an opportunity, please check out our FAQs and our videos and everything else that we're doing from Insider to the Express. But today we wanted to focus on two specific areas that we think are important for the board. And then we want to try to get to some questions that you all have. We're going to try to answer a lot of the questions that we have been receiving from some of our board members this week with our updates. So I want to start off by talking about technology because I know that our technology concerns, they have been coming in from families, from staff members, and we want to provide the board with just an update as to where we are
009with our technology and as well as our resources, not only our resources, but also how we're addressing. some of the technology concerns that are being sent in to our offices. So I'm going to turn things over to Dr. Hoover to provide the board with an update around technology. So Dr. Hoover. Sure. So I think one of our major concerns that we're all hearing, and I feel very passionately about, is a lack of internet access for our families. You know, we've had a solution with the Khajiits in the high school when we've been in school full time, which seemed to address the problem. But now that we are fully virtual at this point, that no longer addresses the gaps that we have, especially with our three through five families taking home their Chromebooks. So we have
010ordered some more at Khajiit. They have been wiped out. However, we have a good relationship with them and they are going to send us some other devices. And then we have worked with Verizon to pair them. So even though they are out of stock, they aren't really out of stock for us. And so we're on board right now for an additional 200. That by no means addresses all of the challenges. Comcast has been very disappointing. It's been very frustrating with our families. Some have gotten in, but our families with the least resources are really struggling. We've been assured that they don't need social security numbers, but they keep being asked for social security numbers. We've got families that share households, and if one person in the household has a debt, then no one, no, another
011family in there cannot get the, does not qualify, qualify for the internet essentials. That being said, a lot has happened this morning and I'm feeling more hopeful. A group has reached out to me and we are trying to look at a viable solution that would be a really more permanent solution for our division. I don't want to get much more into it, but I will say some good things are happening. I'm soliciting to all my relationships in the community and we're going to see what we can do. equitable, sustainable, safe, and accountable. Those are really my four measures that I look at when we're putting anything in place right now. We want to meet all of those, make sure that we're meeting that for our students and our families. I've got a couple other topics
012that have come up, but I don't know if you want to ask me questions specifically about the internet access before I go on. Can we ask a question now? I thought we were supposed to wait till later. Yeah, I didn't see anybody raise their hand about this. So I think maybe- Oh, I forgot. Where's that hand raise thing? Under participants. Yeah, you know what happened? I widened this to the sheet. Oh, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. Well, actually, Dr. Reif has her hand up. So maybe we'll go ahead with that question. Okay, good. Thanks. Thanks for that update. I was just wondering what's your, with the Khajiits that you ordered, and I know that there were some ordered for the International Academy of Students, how are you able to get them
013out to the students? And how are you just in general when people do need tech support, you know, and can't be done remotely, how are you able to do that? Great question. We've got some great partners and we've set up a system with one of our resellers. So everything that we are purchasing, we have shipped, for example, we have purchased additional Chromebooks right now. We have also had this company pick up some of our existing equipment and they have access to our inventory system and our tagging. So we want to make sure that we're being accountable for everything. And once we send a notice that something needs to be replaced or a KG is to go to a family. They are mailing the equipment, and it's insured and needs signature. So we're really proud of
014that. And one thing I've learned in this, and I've always believed it, but relationships really matter, especially in a time like this. And our partners have been really good to us. Okay, Ms. Lorber? Okay. I was just troubled when you said you've had disappointing results with Comcast. because they thought I had connected. I told some families to call their school social worker who was told to call a bilingual parent liaison who apparently is going to help them get connected to Comcast. But I haven't, this was just in the last couple of days. So I'm just, if in fact I hear back from this one particular mom that wasn't working, what should I tell her? So we are still, I mean, we're still trying with the internet essentials in Comcast. And the social workers have been
015incredible partners. And they have fed me a lot of these scenarios. So I've actually been in close contact with Comcast all week in phone calls and emails. Parents have given us permission to share their address and their household name so Comcast could investigate, you know, what's happening. So I don't want to say we're giving up on Comcast at all, but... for some of our families, it's just not going to be a solution. And at this point, this is a great opportunity for innovation and looking at other partners to see, you know, what can we do as a school division that could address these needs beyond a few months, beyond 90 days. So that's kind of my path right now. Okay, I don't see any more hands, so I think we should just continue on. Okay,
016so one of the things I was going to talk to you about, but Dr. Reif already asked about it, is kind of our model for supporting our families and our staff when their Chromebooks or laptops need hardware assistance. But a little bit more on our help desk and help desk requests. This week, we have had 320 student or family requests come in. 220 of them have been completed and about 100 of them need Chromebooks. And we have just started the shipping of some of those Chromebooks as of yesterday. The vendor is in Gaithersburg, Maryland. So we're hoping that Chromebooks can be delivered in about two days' worth of time. We've had 356 staff requests, 298 have been completed, 58 are still outstanding, and we need 11 replacements right now for staff hardware. I've got five
017people supporting Help Desk right now. You know, our technicians are used to going out to the buildings and helping. It's a different skill set when you are doing everything remotely and especially working with families and students. So we are, you know, we're shifting some of our practices and moving some of our talent around to make sure that we are just supporting it in the right way. So that is the, I know I had some requests from the student help desk and staff help desk. Any questions on that before I continue? Well, and actually, I think that that actually like wraps it up, unless I have additional questions. I don't see any. So, so I guess, Dr. Hutchings, you want to continue? So, yes. So at this time, I would like to ask for Dr. Mozingo
018to provide us with an update in regards to C&I. I know this is another area that we are receiving questions about and that we're working towards. As you all know, the VDOE released their guidelines for school divisions across the Commonwealth on Monday evening or Tuesday morning. And our team immediately, once they were released, we began to analyze, digest. to do some crosswalks with our continuity planning to make sure that we are, one, following those guidelines, and two, just ensuring that we're meeting the needs of our ACPS students. We're already in our continuity of education plan. That's what we're currently doing now. But remember, our initial plan was through April 13th. So for example, the learning packets, the Chromebooks, the... the online activities that we're having for some of our staff. So now what our team
019is working to finalize is what does this look like with these newest guidelines that we have between April 10th and the end of the year? at the end of the academic year, which will require us to make refinements to expectations that we have of staff and some of the learning experiences that we're offering. But Dr. Mozingo will be able to provide just a better update or a more in-depth update in regards to our work this week and what we will continue to do throughout next week. Okay, thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. I think I can, can you hear me guys? Okay. Good afternoon. So I'm going, Dr. Hutchins, thank you so much for framing this update. And I'm going to try to remain as high level as possible, knowing that there are many details that
020are still being worked out. I really would like to say I have been and we all have been extremely impressed with the collaborative work on part of our teachers and our principals. As soon as the decision was made. by the governor, we have started receiving from teachers lessons and videos and principals are meeting today about how they can support the K-2 plan and going forward. So I just really want to say as we develop the 2.0 continuity plan, it's a very, very collaborative plan. We have actually organized work groups because the best way to work groups to help us be very deliberate and intentional. and to pace ourselves as we move through this next plan. There are three aspects of this plan. One is reteaching. There will be an opportunity for kids to master content,
021so there will be a component that addresses reteaching. There will also be a feature that addresses enrichment, as well as the introduction of new content. Now given all of that, what that means is we're working on, as I said, we've established some work groups. We have a group that's working on home learning tips. This is where parents, guardians, and families can actually share some of the learning activities that they're doing with their children, such as a scavenger hunt or reading aloud. measuring objects within the home. But we will be working with teachers, we'll be working with Helen and her team setting up all this. We have to set up processes for setting up some back-end processes for how this is collected and made available for families in the community. And it involves our community in
022this whole feature of home learning. The next component is a team that's working on story time and read aloud. Candace has been working with some publishers and we're getting permission to be able to post to have their stories read broadcast over television. We're also working with some of our principals and teachers to be able to read aloud and to post it on our website. So there's a group working on that. A larger feature has to do with the core teaching and reteaching. And this is where, again, We're organizing this by grade level, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. And we are working with teachers who will record some of the lessons. for reteaching content or enriching content. Now, and I'll tell you a little bit more about how we're going to pace this out so we
023can be more strategic as we move forward and also create a sense of coherence between and amongst all the schools. The fourth feature of the plan is kind of a creative encore, hands-on learning. This might look like on Monday, there's recorded 20 minutes of dance, Tuesday, 20 minutes of art. Thursday, Wednesday, 20 minutes of PE wellness where the team is looking at designing. We've teachers creating a problem of practice that maybe our students could participate in and so all of that's still being developed but that would could result into live streaming city uh live streaming 20 minute lessons. The other feature is the K2 which is really exciting. I received something maybe right before this call where they had a K2 Zoom. with some of the teachers today and the teachers will be helping develop
024and define some activities and lessons for K-2. And in all of these, the staff is working on, you know that we actually have pacing sequence and pacing formats. So they will look at, identify the staff, what has not been taught as it pertains to our scope and sequence. And they are creating some new calendars. And from those calendars, teachers will be able to submit. items or lessons or videos that pertain to those particular standards. But for K-2 literacy math, we do have a group working on that. Distance learning is a larger part of our work. We're working with Dr. Hoover closely on that. And so we've got some principals actually that have asked if they could serve on the distance learning team. And we, in terms of the college board and some of our AP
025classes. That's moving along because the College Board has set expectations in that area, but we're looking at the distance learning. A lot of that will involve looking at our data, identifying again those particular, those standards, and from that we will create and teachers will create videos and lessons and activities for the distance learning. They're also working in identifying some vendors that might have some, where we have a partnership with already. College Board, for example, might have a series on some aspects of our literacy model. So we're working and trying to reach out to certain vendors to see what is already available. We also are working with Dr. Hoover and her team and with Satellite because they actually have a model that's working for distance learning, particularly in terms of expectations more than anything, and maybe
026the possibility of a suite of possible courses. Next we have dual language. There's a group that's looking at dual language and it's still being developed but a community group has an interest in helping us develop some dual language activities that would involve students and I don't want to unveil too much about that because they're working on this in the works. We just learned about that yesterday but a real commitment to continue to move that program. We also have Pre-K there's a group looking. Now we actually are in a very good place. We provided schools and schools provided a wealth of information. But we still have pre-k that's working on developing some more activities for pre-k families during this time. And then we'll have Dr. Nicholson and Terry Warner. They are identifying a plan to help
027ensure equity for some of our students with special needs. We want to make sure that even with this plan, while a large percentage of our learners are in the regular program, we still want to make sure that we provide guidance and reminders on what are some of the unique characteristics of those two groups. And then what we developed a schedule before, I would think it was a schedule with some parameters, particularly for school-based staff. We will, we are in the process, Dr. Mann has a small group that's working on this, but we are developing a schedule for teachers and a schedule for students because what we want to make sure is, particularly as we have prioritized those standards, we need to be able to say the school, the day should be dedicated to these different
028types of activities. So we're working on that. There are lots of models out there as to how systems have developed. some weekly schedules and schedules. And we heard from parents and for principals and teachers that there is a need to provide schedules for them and even schedules that require check-ins on the part of teachers. And lastly, we've created, we've got a team working on parent tips. What are some success, what are some, in an online environment, what are some essential tips for children to be successful? I was looking at something last night that has offline and online. and they give you suggestions for when kids are working online, but they're also suggestions when they're offline, whether it's reading, whether it's writing, kind of have this balance between, you know, the online instruction and offline instruction.
029At the end of the day, the commitment and the expectation and really our passion is that The leaders, the principals, teachers, and the staff will jointly develop this plan. Our goal is to have a large, well, we are actually establishing launch dates for each aspect of the plan. But the goal is to provide as much information as possible next Friday, because we know that our teachers are really ready to start, you know, planning their lessons. But the advantage of this plan, lastly, is... is that teachers are involved more so on the front end and that's going to give us much more buy-in and a much more collaborative plan. Lastly, as Dr. Hutchings mentioned, we did launch expectations with the 1.0. We will have expectations. around communication, collaboration, and professional development. So we're working on all
030of that. We have a good place where we've started, but we are revising. I was looking at some of those expectations last night, and in some places we need to revise them to make sure they're clearer. But this, in a nutshell, is just a summary of the 2.0 and to make you aware of the collaborative nature. in the different groups that are working and the level of input that we have for our our plan. We are, by the way, though, we are looking at a for K-2, developing learning packets for K-2. We appreciate all the support for the Chromebooks and we're going to work and be prepared when those arrive. But prior to that, we do have a group, which is that K-2 group, and we have some principals that have signed up for that
031group. But we are going to work with collecting resources and ideas from teachers based upon prioritized standards and we're developing a process by which those materials could be provided to children. We're not, we haven't worked out the details as the delivery. That is a commitment for K-2 to develop learning packets. So for example, right, we could ask all, we could say to the K-2 teachers in math, we want to really improve skills around fraction or measurement. So we collect all of that electronically. Team is organizing that and then that's printed and it could be mailed or delivered to students' homes. And we may include in that some crayons and markers, but the elementary principals actually are having a Zoom conference right now and that's one of their agenda topics. So that's the just high level
032of this 2.0, where are we going, and the work teams that are associated with each aspect of that comprehensive plan begin to focus on reteaching, enrichment, and new content. I hope I'm good for any questions. Okay, I see that I have two raised hands right now, Ms. Lorber and Ms. Alderton. So I think Ms. Lorber beat Ms. Alderton in terms of raising her hand. So we'll start with Ms. Lorber, and then we'll go on to Ms. Alderton. Miss Lorber, did you have a question? Maybe she can't hear me. Miss Alderton, go ahead. All right. Good afternoon, everybody. I think, first of all, I'd just like to definitely commend you all on sort of, I think, the level at which the senior leadership team and all the staff really have taken on this charge and really
033tried to figure out, like, this new normal. So I can imagine it's not easy. I know it's complicated and complex. So I just would first take the opportunity to thank you guys for all your hard work. And I would say, you know, I've been definitely hearing the vast difference between where we are as ACPS and where our surrounding school districts are. So I think that's amazing and keep it up. My question is probably more for Terry Werner. I've been curious in regard to what's our plan for monitoring continuity of learning for our kids who are in non-public schools? Because I think that's a whole different sort of level of... this challenge, and particularly because some of our kids, I don't know if they are, but some of our kids could be attending non-publics in different
034states. And each state right now is in a different place in terms of how they're responding to this COVID-19 pandemic. So I guess that's a general broad question, but really curious as to what our plan is for monitoring ACPS kids who are attending non-public schools and how we can support them. May I go ahead and answer? Yes. Okay, so we actually are in a fabulous place about that, and I'm really excited about it, especially after talking to many of our Region 4 directors yesterday. So all of our students that are placed in non-public settings are there through our Comprehensive Services Act, and we made the decision, I basically made the decision, and they've been there's not been an issue with it at all, that twofold. One, that we would continue those placements and we would
035continue to fund them so that those schools don't close. That has been a big concern. And secondly, that if we continue to fund those placements, that they were responsible for providing this continuity of education. We have a dedicated staff member, Deborah Robles, who oversees all of the students in these private day placements. And she and I have been communicating almost daily regarding them and their continuing education. And all of the students who are in those placements right now are receiving outreach and instructional interventions from those schools. Right now all students are home. We do have students who are attending schools in Maryland. Maryland is still scheduled to come back. They have not closed completely. So our ongoing communication to them has been we will monitor Maryland's plans, we will monitor Maryland school openings, and at
036such time if they return to school we'll discuss transportation. So that's where we are right now. But we are very much on top of the students and very much in communication with them and their families through Deborah Robles. And she's been doing a great job in that regard. Okay, next I have Dr. Reif. Dr. Reif, are you there? Okay, we'll go on to Ms. Nolan. We'll go back to Dr. Reif. Okay, thank you so much. So, Dr. Mozingo, thank you so much for your detailed report. It seems like, and again, I just also, let me begin by thanking staff as well, in addition to what Ms. Alderton said. I mean, the staff has just done such a Herculean task from the food to the student services. everything into the parent engagement as well as just
037the IT has just been outstanding. So it sounds like all the support services are in place and now the focus is going to be on with this new normal of how are we providing the new content that we've been allowed to proceed moving forward. So in that vein, Dr. Mozingo, how is it that number one, we're engaging and supporting teachers during this time so that It like the students themselves are receiving a uniform experience. And then what are we doing to support students that come from severe needs that not in terms of Special education needs, but that either lower income or social support needs in terms of like, how are we getting students that are not engaged and showing that they're not engaged on the they're not showing up to the canvas. They're not showing
038up to like all the framework that you're providing. How are we going to To try to focus on getting the student engagement. So again, to summarize my question. Number one, how are we supporting teachers during this time as well as including their feedback to ensure that we're Listening to those on the ground and supporting all students to have a uniform experience and then to what are we doing about students who We notice aren't showing up to the zoom classes or not are not being engaged, not turning in assignments, things of that nature. Okay, yes, good afternoon. So one of the ways in terms of how we're supporting teachers is we created pre- Dr. Lane created some with input from a lot of other staff members. We created some professional learning opportunities for teachers doing phase
039one of the 1.0 plan. We will have more professional development opportunities for teachers as we continue 2.0. We have and will continue some of those professional opportunities obviously to learn more about will be some of it will consist of distance learning, some of it will consist of how again how you meet the needs of students with disabilities, but we will put together, we'll review the professional learning plan that was expectations that were put together previously and we will cascade another set of professional development expectations during this time. In terms of the students, first of all, our staff members, well, at the school level, the principals are working closely with the teachers and getting feedback in different ways from teachers as to how students are performing. We are also holding Zoom conferences and conversations with principals.
040In addition to that, a lot of, I mean really lots of our teachers are actually emailing the specialists and central office employees and getting guidance for how to continue to work with students in a distance learning as we move into this new environment. I do think that we still need to put out some more expectations for how you support students as we go forward. But as I talk to the curriculum specialists constantly, There is a close, there's close articulation between the teachers and the central office employees and getting support from them. I don't know if that answers your question or not. I know that we also, as we move forward, when we develop, after they have prioritized the standards, we still have to make sure there's a way in which this addresses MTSS, right? So
041we've got to make sure that whatever's being developed. that it's differentiated enough that it meets the needs of students and then that there's an opportunity for this reteaching and this support. So I feel like that's embedded in the plan, but it is something that maybe another discussion I can continue to have with the principals who are very concerned and conscientious in terms of how to meet the needs of all the students. But there's a lot of contact, the back and forth. I don't know if that answers your question explicitly or not. Thank you so much. And I look forward to the continued conversations. I'm sure it's something that's going to be continued to be rolled out and thought about as time goes on. So thank you so much. Yes. And we'll continue to make that
042a normal part of our conversation with principals. And it already is in terms of ways in which that they can make sure that the students are getting the support that they need during this time. And that's why I'm so glad that an aspect of this plan and expectation is for reteaching and reviewing. previous content and again that was embedded here is a need to address MTSS because we can't lose sight of that in this moment. Okay I have Ms. Lorber. She lost connection and so she's back with her question. Thanks so much but I noticed that Dr. Hutchings has his hand up. Should we? Can I go to Dr. Hutchings? No, sorry, I didn't see that. And then come back to me, okay? Okay. I just wanted to elaborate and have Dr. Crawford just to
043elaborate a little more on the school, I'm sorry, the student support teams that also answer Ms. Nolan's question. So Dr. Crawford, if you can elaborate on the SST component of that. Thank you, Dr. Hutchings, and good afternoon, everyone. Yes, just to piggyback off what Dr. Mozingo said, we have school staff members, our student support teams, who are in direct contact with our families right now. And it's really, it's actually been something that's exciting to watch. You can think of counselors who are still doing lunch bunches with kids, our social workers who, as Dr. Hoover said, are the main connection right now. between the families and our school system. So just wanted to mention that we know that this is a time of great anxiety for our families and our students and any student has challenges
044when you're thrown out of your normal routine. So we are working hard to make sure that we're supporting the mental health needs of all of our students, the social emotional needs and coming on the heels of that, we're getting a lot of questions from parents too of how can we support them in structuring the schedule. Just that our student support team members, particularly our counselors, our social workers, and our psychologists are in direct contact with our families, especially our families that we know have higher needs. The other piece just in how are we getting teacher feedback, of course, is the teachers are in touch with the specialists, as Dr. Mzingo said. And as a part of the expectations that we put out last week, we have Dr. Lane's information. And included in that is some
045information on... professional development related to mental health, to trauma-informed care, and our equity offerings, including some of the teaching tolerance work that's being done right now that's phenomenal. And we did highlight that for every single employee group. And while no one wants to be in the situation that we're in, we think that, you know, time is such a valuable resource to us that we really want to capitalize on using this time to provide PD to our staff members who don't always have the time to work on the SEAL areas during the school week. I just wanted to highlight the SST work and some of that additional PD. Thank you. Okay, Ms. Loeber, that was, thank you. That was very much worth taking us a moment to hear. Ms. Loeber, your question now? Okay, am I,
046yeah, I'm on, right? Yeah. Yeah, my main question has to do with the bilingual learners, I guess it's for Dr. Mozingo or also possibly, well, for everybody, because there's so many pieces. I was downloading these wonderful, wonderful lessons. I'm just so impressed with what we've put together. I have neighbors on the block whose kids are Zooming in third grade. You know, I'm just blown away by the way our whole school system is responding. But I think one of the hardest nuts to crack, and I don't know how we're going to afford it. is as I read over these lessons for first and second graders, I saw that they were addressed to the child. Have somebody read out loud. And it seemed like in English, it's fine. Number one, in English, it's fine if you speak
047English, if your parent does. And number two, if you have somebody at home who can do this with you. And so I wondered, first of all, how do we afford to translate all these amazing lessons? This is a little like what Veronica was saying. How do we figure out the ways to engage when there isn't somebody in the house who can do this or engage with them? And I know our social workers have been reaching the hardest to reach families because I have a couple of them in my cell phone and I've heard from them that they've been reached. But I'm just wondering what, you know, how are we going to handle the certain percentage of young children in particular, the older ones with the laptops, this particular family I'm talking about, they're doing fine.
048She's getting some internet access issues straightened out, but for middle school child, no problem. But it's the young one who mom won't be able to interpret these lessons. And they're fabulous. I have to say, I really am impressed. So that's my basic question. So one of the things, one of the questions that came in, and I think Dr. Nicholson, I don't know if Bethany's online or not, but I can kind of talk a little bit about this. But one of the, that is why, and you'll see later on once this is unveiled, in 2.0, Ms. Larver, we have a section that speaks to more support and guidance for English learners and students with disabilities. I know that Bethany has indicated that in this new rollout, there will be more guidance and support. She did indicate
049though that there has been that collaboration again with the general education teachers working with the EL teachers and really, and there's been a tremendous amount of reaching out to parents and families. But that's something that we are still working on. I think one of the things that I can do in working with the K-2 group is bring that again to their attention to say what else can be done to make sure. you know, that those lessons are developed in a way that they can even meet the needs of our youngest students. Yes. Go ahead. Bethany's on too. Thank you, Dr. Mozingo. Yes, I just wanted to concur with what you just shared and assure everyone that we have our EL teachers and our EL instructional specialists working with the general education teachers in the development
050of these packets in version 2.0 and we will ensure that we have directions translated for parents as well as specific guidance for EL teachers to reach out to families and students and provide contact information for parents. so that we can address that very important concern that you raised, Ms. Lorber. Okay, next up we have Mr. Suarez. All right. Thank you, Chair Anderson. I had just had a brief comment or reflection and then a question. So my comment is, you know, I want to just commend the collaboration that's happening across the different parts of the division, especially on this issue of at-risk students and engagement. And I just wanted to sort of build off of what Ms. Nolan was saying about it sounds like we're getting to the point where we're figuring out a proxy for
051engagement, like some data that we can actually use to track that. But like, you know, normally you have attendance and so you have a sense of other people are coming to school and the teacher knows about that. But the more we can think creatively about how we can put all these pieces from the different departments together to like actually know how engaged each of our families and students are and to filter that through the teacher. I think the more effective we can be in this sort of new delivery model, which, you know, inherently can have some inequities if we aren't super proactive about it. So I just wanted to, you know. I look forward to more updates on how we're thinking about what data we can be using to sort of proxy attendance and engagement
052as we go forward. My more specific question was more about the special education side. I wanted to sort of build on that again because, you know, before we were closed till April 14th and obviously we're going to do what we could until that. point. But now that we're closed for an extended period of time, I think that has significant potential legal implications and other implications. And I know, Dr. Werner, you had mentioned that you have a plan that you're starting to build on and develop. But there's sort of two things I'm thinking about is one is something in the Department of Ed federal guidance that talks about if we provide general education services to the general education folks. We have to do the best we can to provide as much service as possible to the
053special education students. And then another piece of the VDOE guidance which says that after we reopen we have to review the impact of the extended closure on the needs of the special education students and figure out how we're going to address that. I wanted to just see how we're starting to think about those issues. I mean, one thing that immediately pops to mind is every student with an IEP has to have an annual review. And, you know, now that we're not going to be physically there for. 90 days or however long, it might be harder to have those IEP reviews and those might get jammed up at the beginning of next school year and stuff. So I just really want to know how we're thinking about all these potential issues and because there's going to
054have to be a really robust plan on this and I'm glad that we're thinking about it and on top of it. So. Gary, you want to speak to that? Because you have a plan. Oh, yes, we do. And so that's the one thing that I want you to know is that we already have a robust plan in place. So yes, the world clearly changed on Monday when the governor closed school. So we have taken a two-prong, kind of three-prong approach because we're also looking at ESY services. But let me focus on right now. We have taken a two-prong approach, one to instruction and one to compliance. In terms of instruction, we are continuing to provide educational opportunities and learning activities for students with disabilities. We've just taken it to another level now. The instructional specialist
055teams are working directly with the specialists. The specialists are working directly with the classroom teachers and also supporting the classroom teacher work with their general education partners. The students who access the general education curriculum, we have provided an extensive, extensive library, for want of a better word, of resources to provide specially designed instruction in a virtual format. So these specialists are working with the co-teachers so that they can plan and deliver the new instruction on the general ed side that also has that specially designed instruction and access provided. For those students who are accessing the citywide programs, the Autism Behavior Support Team under Dr. Erin Stone is working individually with each of the citywide teachers who are making individual contact with the students on their caseloads. We are looking at doing virtual classrooms. We have
056already started planning about how they can do virtual activities. Our preschool students are already doing zoom play groups a couple of days a week so we are we are really looking at services and accessing programmatic interventions for students pre-k through 22. we have also are working to send home hard copy packets for students who cannot access the internet we are We're pretty close to knowing who's been on and who hasn't. I did a sweep yesterday to ensure that all students possible had Chromebooks. And for those that didn't have Chromebooks or did not have internet, what we were doing for those individual students. And right now we're looking at developing individual learning packets that we are either going to send home electronically to parents or through the print process and print and delivery process. So I'm
057very comfortable as to where we stand instructionally. It's a continuation of what we started a couple of weeks ago when we were planning this. The one thing that we have now worked to develop is teletherapy. The thing that I, when I stood in front of you the day before we walked out the door was that I wasn't, I was looking at an equitable way for related services. We now are looking at teletherapy and. We also have been given the green light that we can continue to bill Medicaid. So we are looking to ensure that we provide teletherapy in speech language, OT, and PT in a way that we can continue Medicaid billing if at all possible. The related service personnel have done a four-hour webinar this week on actually providing teletherapy. And so we are
058really looking at having that process up and running as of the week of the 13th, which is really where all of these initiatives are targeted. So I feel very comfortable right now that we have a strong plan in place to address education and related services. I have a phone conference with Daryl Sampson early next week to talk about how we're going to continue counseling as a related service as well. So we are, we're really on top of that. The bigger issue, and we are actually in a very good place with this as well. I had a long conference yesterday with my region four counterparts and was. Highly gratified to see how far ahead of the game we are for most school districts because we have some counterparts in Region 4 who are doing nothing. And
059they're saying, we're closed, we're done. And they're going to address everything when they come back. Well, that's clearly not where we are. And so we are in the process of developing in consultation with John Kafraki. just to make sure that I was on the right track and you know if there was anything that he didn't think was defensible but he was great with everything we were doing. We have, we're putting together three sets of guidance documents that will be ready next week, early next week and we're going to do training for principals next week as to virtual meetings for eligibilities and do IEPs. Let me talk you through the eligibility process first. And that is the students for whom we have completed eligibility processes that we can finish within the 65-day timeline. And for those
060students for whom an eligibility was initiated, but we don't have the components completed. So for those students who have initial eligibilities or re-evaluations for which we have all of the necessary components, we are going forward with those meetings on a virtual basis. We are, yay, Team ACPS. We're very lucky in that we didn't miss the 55 days, 65 days on anybody. ACPS has a 55-day date, but... federal, state of 65. And we are within the 65-day timeline on all of our eligibilities. So we are going to hold those meetings the week of, we have like five of them. So we're going to hold those meetings the week of April 13th. And then... stagger them out until we can finish those up. For those eligibilities that we do not have all of the components and cannot
061get all of the components at this point, we have two options. One is to contact the parent and ask them to waive the 65-day timeline and come up with a schedule of how we will meet those timelines once we come back to school. Or, and if they don't agree, I'm hoping most of them will, but if they don't agree, what we will do then is hold the eligibility meeting with the existing data and make a decision accordingly. In many, or if not most of those cases, it will probably be that the student, we can't find the student eligible because we don't have enough information and we will have to reopen the process when we return to school. But I'm hoping that most parents... will realize that that may be the outcome and be willing to
062hold it in abeyance rather than start all over again. So that's where we stand on eligibilities. For any student with a re-evaluation for whom the eligibility process was in place and we need existing data, we are going to go ahead. We need additional data. We are going to go to eligibility based on existing data so that we don't interrupt services for anybody. And if we need additional information, we'll come back and deal with that in the fall through an IEP process. Are there any questions about that up to this point before I go to the next? No, that's very helpful. Thank you. Okay. All right. So then let's talk IEPs. Let's follow up with this in writing to the board because I know we have other questions. I want to make sure that we're able
063to get to some of these other questions. Yeah, I have Dr. Reif and Ms. Nolan who still have questions, I guess, on this topic. So Dr. Reif? Thank you. Yeah, thanks, everybody, for all the hard work you're doing. I know it's a big effort, and we all really appreciate it. And I just wanted to mention that, you know, Dr. Mozingo talked about the balance between the online and the offline learning, and I really appreciated that. I've seen a lot of positive feedback from middle and high school families about how well the online... Learning is working for them right now, but it's I think K to 2 and some students with IEPs. I'm hearing a lot of stories with folks really struggling in those areas. And you talked about putting together these packets, and I know
064we received packets at our children's school. But I guess a question that I've been wondering about is what about the textbooks? You know, none of my children came home with textbooks. We have these consumable textbooks as well. They seem like they would be a really good resource. We've made this effort to move textbooks into the CIP to really prioritize them. So it just doesn't seem like we're relying on them very much right now. And I was just wondering about that, if you could talk about that. Yeah, I think that's an interesting question. You know, it's funny that you would bring that up because we, here's what I think has happened. In the midst of all this change, what we're realizing is there's some electronic e-books, right? So we know at the middle and high there's
065capacity for e-books. So that is what is occurring at the secondary level. But this happened so fast, right? It happened so fast that what we did was just working with teachers and identifying what they had as resources and using those. I still think and will always believe that they have a place. I think that we probably will not rely upon those until we get restarted, until we start again. But I feel 100% that we have so much more right now that we will be fine if that answers your question. I mean, because I think that With the videos and the lessons and the activities, teachers are just using a lot of resources. And also what textbook publishers have done is that they have provided a lot of their resources for teachers. The supplemental resources are
066online and teachers can still access that information and still utilize it. And it doesn't, although we purchase textbooks, but there are a lot of supplemental materials that are online for teachers that they are also accessing. I appreciate that. I just, the one point that I'd like to make is that as a parent, sometimes when there's all these different sort of disjointed worksheets and assignments coming in, it's hard to really understand, you know, the broader learning goals. And I think that's where textbooks can be really helpful as a parent because you can like see, you know, the transition over, you know, what they're supposed to be learning over the course of the class. We're going to help all parents with that going forward because with 2.0, we will develop a division calendar. And so we're going
067to prioritize those standards for you. And we're going to actually prioritize with teachers some of the activities and videos. So things will be a little bit more coherent for parents because we have heard that. So we did allow a little bit more flexibility and autonomy on the first and 1.0. but we're changing that as we move to 2.0. And we've got a lot of buy-in from teachers for that because of the very same reason that you mentioned. I have Dr. Hutchings who wants to say something. Oh, Terry just got it. So I took my hand down. Oh, okay. Oh, sorry. I had to flip back and forth between muting and the participants. So I sometimes am a little late on my hand. So Ms. Nolan indicated that she actually, her question wasn't necessarily related to
068this. So Dr. Hutchings, did you have other things that you want to talk about? She was sort of interested in grading and where we are with that. That was her question. Yeah, and one specific area in regards to our grading. So we include that into our continuity of learning plan because the grading component is a component of that. We're still working through what our grading, you know. philosophy is going to be during the school closure. We're working with a team of teachers as well as administrators on this as we speak. But we're going to have a lot more information to share with the board next week. We do anticipate there being some change to what our current policy is in place. So there is going to be some type of recommendation that's going to have
069to occur. not a recommendation, but vote that will have to occur to change our policy for this school closure period. So please be expecting that. Board members, you all should probably hear something about that next week. So the goal will most likely be some type of vote, potentially next Friday or when we get back from spring break. But we'll have more information for you all early next week. Okay. Did that cover it, Ms. Nolan? Or did you have some follow-up? Okay. All right. So the other thing that we might want to talk about just briefly in terms of the textbooks and not having them, the question was asked, why do we have the textbooks? But my memory is that really you don't get the online content without buying the textbooks. At least that used to
070be the case. And so maybe if someone could confirm that, that would be wonderful. Thanks. Yes, that's correct. We get both. We get the hard copy and we get the online content with the books. That is correct. And I think, you know, I think I look at this as an opportunity. I was saying this to our staff recently that this whole remote learning experience has really catapulted. everything that we do in regards to everything we've been trying to do honestly in regards to innovative approaches to learning and I mean the fact that yesterday when I had our curriculum and instruction meeting and I was talking to all of our curriculum specialists I was excited to hear some of the supplemental resources such as the Kennedy Center, Broadway has plays, museums from all over the world
071you know we're gonna have even more enriching opportunities for our kids than I think we had before. And this is now opening kind of the door to just a whole new way of how we deliver instruction that I hope will continue, you know, throughout this process. So this is, you know, we, I think we've been forced right now to do this. But I hope that when we get back into, you know, somewhat of our normal phase of life, that we will continue to use. some of these additional supplemental resources in addition to what we already use in our schools. But Dr. Reif, we've heard from several parents similar to what you've said and with our 2.0 we're going to provide just more guidelines because remember our first continuation plan was for three weeks right before
072spring break. Now we're talking about three months. And it's going to need to be a little more robust, actually a lot more robust than it currently is, as well as some guidance for what families can do at home. So thank you for your question. And we are definitely working through that. Okay, I'm aware of our time, even though we got a late start. Is there something else, Dr. Hutchings, that you wanted to cover? Nothing else that we want to cover at this time other than, you know, I just want to publicly just thank our staff as well as the board for all the work that we are, that we're doing along the way on behalf of our kids. And I just, we met with the EAA yesterday and we were just telling the EAA, you
073know, these are ever-changing moments for us. And our team is doing a great job of adjusting, you know, and making refinements along the way. We're just asking for people to continue to give us just some grace. You know, soon we will hopefully get into a routine where things could be a little more constant than they are right now. But we haven't gotten to that moment yet. So just bear with us. You know, our team is working as hard as we possibly can. And, you know, I just want to commend them for doing such an incredible job at a time. uh when you know a lot of people could say let's just throw our hands up and just say let's not do anything right now right we're we're saying no our kids deserve to continue to
074be involved in education um in spite of the situation that we're currently in with having our schools closed uh and the team is working towards making that a reality Great, thank you. The other question that came up was about advisory or school board advisory committees. And so we talked a little bit about that this week in our agenda setting. And, you know, I think it's it might be difficult to continue given the limitations that we have in terms of time and and meeting and public. They have to be public meetings. So I think we need to the exception. that I asked Jennifer to look into are the mandated ones to make sure that we're going to not fall outside of something that we're actually legally supposed to be doing. But we'll also, it was a
075great reminder that we need to really communicate out to the leadership of those committees. So we'll work on something to get out and let board members know since they're liaisons to the committees. So that's it. That's all I have. And so I see that Ms. Lorber has her hand up. So one more question maybe, because about at the hour, even though we're late, we started late. So Ms. Lorber? Maybe we don't have Ms. Lorber. Okay. All right. So will anything else, if it comes up, then... be sure to send an email and we can start over again. I'm here. Oh, you're here. Okay. Yeah. I'm really sorry, but I just, I'm really sorry. I feel like some people have expressed gratitude and I don't think I've expressed sufficiently. how grateful I feel personally and proud
076I feel to be part of a school system that is responding across the board in a comprehensive way. And granted, we only have 16,000 students compared to some of these larger school divisions, but I now see that I feel like people are not going to be moving away to get away from the Alexandria City Public Schools. I think they're going to be, unfortunately, moving here. because they're getting a sense of the strength of the school system. I also wanted to commend the folks working on nutrition. I think those pop-up sites and, you know, we've really just, it just feels like an all-out coming together in every single area. And I just want to say how grateful and proud I am. Sorry, that's it. Well, Ms. Lorber, that was totally worth waiting for. And so thank
077you for letting us end on such a positive note. So now we do have to do this. And officially, if somebody could make a motion to adjourn the meeting. I move we adjourn the meeting. Okay. I hear Ms. Lorber. Do I have a second? I second. Oh, goodness. We have a lot of seconds. I think I heard Ms. Alterton. First, Ms. Alterton. Second, Ms. Gentry's motion. And now we'll do the vote by roll call. So, Chair Anderson, that's me. That's yes. Vice Chair Nolan? Yes. Ms. Alterton? Yes. Ms. Gentry? Yes. Oh, great. Thank you. Ms. Keene? Yes. Ms. Lorber? Yes. Dr. Reeve? Dr. Reeve? Okay, we'll go on to Mrs. Suarez? Yes. Ms. Thornton? Yes. Dr. Reeve? Maybe she's not on anymore. Let's see. Okay, well, I think we have enough. Meeting is adjourned. We're
078fine with one missing. We got eight yeses. So have a great weekend, everyone. Thanks for all your work.